Right here waiting
by IcedSoulFairy
Summary: As the story of unforgotten love continues, the feelings of the past lingering, and the smell of war is fast approaching, how will they find each other again? Truths will reveal itself in the midst of chaos, but will they survive with the power of the red strings that bind them together? Chapter 10 is up.
1. Chapter 1

Hey, there it's me again.. not much to say... enjoy and dont forget to Review!

**Disclaimer: I Do not own Fairytail**

* * *

It's been almost sunset when the two mages decided to call it a day. Strolling and wandering around the town of Magnolia, they lost track of time with all the things they did all day long: going to stores, eating all the stuff they want under the swaying trees of the park, trying all the rides like kids in the Magnolia carnival, and even scaring away the flock of birds while they play a friendly-match between them. Yes, that was the kind of day for the almighty Titania and the known stripper ice mage. Erza and Gray. They've been together for 3 years now, and the guild witnessed how perfect they are for each other that some even proclaimed their relationship the perfect one anyone would get so lucky to have. The kind of sweet but not too showy or cheesy, intimate but having known of their own limitations, the one that has respect and trust for each other, and the one where they know each other enough they can read each other as 'open books'.

So when they finally sat down in exhaustion in the spot where everything started for them years back, the half naked ice mage can't help but notice the scarlet's once glowing eyes dimmed. Gray knew something was bothering her. He frowned looking at it. Finally, Erza noticed him staring and looked at him but abruptly looked away from his now sad orbs. She knew why, for whatever she felt, the ice mage was always like mirror, reflecting her own. And that only gave her heart a heavy pang of guilt.

"I enjoyed this day, really-"she attempted a smile though she knew it was useless in front of a man who saw every side of her enough not to be fooled by it.

"I know… and I know it's something else. What is it?" Gray had a soft tone being as calm as ever showing a smile in his concerned expression.

Erza felt another blow to her chest seeing him like that. Her eyes deepened and tears started to well up in her hazel orbs. She bought her knees closer and buried her face in guilt. A warm touch was all she needed to cry all the stored tears. His fingers were incredibly warm and it's an irony because Gray is an ice mage. Perhaps because of his innocent feelings toward the armored scarlet. She admits she has the same for him but everything turned hazy when a certain person from her past came back and started turning her sure feelings upside-down when she thought it was already normal. She couldn't help but think that the person who fixed her life was the same man she feared she'd end up hurting by what she has half-decided now. Maybe that's what the tears are for.

Slowly that hand raised her trembling chin and revealed her face, trying to fight back tears from falling. He slowly placed his hands, cupping her wet cheeks to dry them.

"You can tell me." He said, with hurt in his voice. Seeing her crying again in his company, he couldn't help but blame himself for failing to protect her tears. Did he do something wrong?

"N-no Gray, it isn't you-"she said as if reading his thoughts. A short silence followed. Gray, still holding Erza's cheeks, finally knew.

"It's him, isn't it?" Gray's voice tried not to break, but his eyes told everything. It hurt him so much as how she's hurting right now. But he tried to sound whole, he doesn't want her to feel guilty about it. Her tears flowed more, showing he was right. It hurt him even more. After a while, she can't bring herself to speak, but it'll only hurt him more than now if she's not going to say anything.

" It—it's my fault Gray-I –didn't know h-how to deal with myself—h-he's back..and I k-now I shouldn't—feel anything anymore-but suddenly- it all came b-back to me again—I- I- c-ant help it… I suddenly don't know what to feel anymore!—I'm sorry, G-Gray… right now, I'm so confused of my feelings—that I know—e-eventually I'll hurt you for something not your fault- if I stay—I—I want to-" Her voice finally gave out when all of the sudden she was pulled into a warm embrace by the ice mage. She trembled as tears started to fall even more and hugged him tightly. He stroked her scarlet as he tried not to cry—if he does, he'd freeze it into ice until it melts away for her not to see.

He's hurting like a big part of him was torn off. It was like being struck a hundred swords in his chest. He wanted to get angry, but he couldn't. It pained him to know and he feared this day to come—even though he felt it would, he wasn't ready enough. She's hurting even more, confused, guilt eating her conscience, and she's broken once again. He knows he won't be able to help her and instead make her even worse. He'll hate himself if he allow it to stay that way, but he had to be strong- enough for her to feel she shouldn't worry about him; he doesn't want to be a burden to her. Even though he's shattered into pieces.

"Shhhh…." Gray hushed the sobbing Erza.

" I—I understand.." he followed, trying desperately not to sound broken.

" G-Gray…I—" She wanted to say sorry but was stopped.

"No. It's okay. I know. I understand…" He really did—although he was lying for the part that he's okay.

With this Erza cried even more embracing the ice mage so tight. She wasn't sure what to feel. All she knows is that he was trying to lighten her up even though it kills him beyond anything else. She saw to his bravery but it pained her more to realize to herself she was hurting the same man who never failed to make her happy. Anybody who has someone like him would be so lucky. She is. But she kept convincing herself she'll only end up hurting him more now that her own feelings are now messed up just because of someone else. And he deserves someone more than her.

They stayed in each other's hug for quite a long time—until they knew it has to stop or it'll be harder for them to pull back. Gray knows Erza has to fix herself and there's no way it'd happen if they won't end this right now or else she'd end up being the bad one in their relationship on the eyes of the criticizing outsiders .And he needs time to heal himself although he knew it would be impossible. But for her true happiness, even if that happiness isn't gonna be his or him, he's willing to let her go. Nobody would know how painful it is but he will do it to see her smile again—this time with someone she knows she'll be happy with…and by that he'll be fine, maybe not that okay but still-

"I trust you in whatever you decide to do—you know I always do. Just remember always, I'll be waiting for you if you decided to come back—I'll be waiting if you wanted a place for you to come back—Always, and I love you—enough to let you go. I always will—Go, find yourself and your true happiness." He almost gave in to tears but tried not to. Gray hugged her tighter knowing this will be their last, as lovers. It's the end for them, for him, but not for her—

Hearing him say that he trusts her, it was the best encouragement she had and also the most painful substitute for the word goodbye. To her, hearing him reassuring he's always gonna be there for her—she was glad and at the same time felt horrible of herself leaving such a loving and loyal person as that. He was always like that. And she knows him enough that all this time, he was holding up his own tears—she knows what he thinks and she wished she just had the strength to do the same—but she was always weak beside him.

" T-Thank you, Gray…."

He watched her walk away from the spot they first fell in love, and swore their vows to each other, now the place where they all ended it… a wind blew through as it separated them. By this time, his tears didn't listen to him anymore as he finally shed his overflowing tears—he's glad at least that he's now alone, so that no one would ever see how broken he is. He went to his knees and cried the most silent tears as the moon shone above him, as if joining him in his grief.

He knows it's all for her good. And for that, he won't care of all the pain he had to go through... just to see her happy with the one she loves.

* * *

Please tell me if it's good or needs improvement-leave comments and anything else..Thank you for reading! See you next chapter!

LOL. not much to type now.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, there guys, thanks for reading this story! i would like to post my replies to all of you guys who reviewd instead of PM'ing it. LOL. I would gladly do this to all of the people who reviewed and made me happy!

karu-14: YES. I definitely agree with you- so you see, this story is really a GrayZa but I'd like to add Jellal to make it more realistic since you just can't deny that he is the reason why this couple isn't taking much scene in the anime. Lol. and soo, i would really appreciate anyone who could suggest me a oneshot for JerZa in my future chapters since i dont have quite the idea about the two of them( or maybe i just don't pay much attention to their side- i mean i know about their past but unlike GrayZa, i dont know what story to make with them.^^ i dont hate this couple, but i loved GrayZa more. Thanks for reviewing, here's another chap for my first reviewer!

Raikiri80: Ahhh, yes- I'm the one writer who loves hurting his/her favorite character. Sorry about making you cry. Anyway, i hoped you liked the idea. Dont ya worry- I'm planning big for this couple!( although I'm still new here, so dont get your expectations too high, ne?) LOL. Thanks for reviewing, and you and karu-14 did have the same reaction...Wow, that's a coincidence! Dont hesitate to give your share of ideas for GrayZa and JerZa, okay?

Milafox12: Thanks, bro^^Glad you liked it.

grayza fan(Guest): ahhh, now here's the next chap so I hope you still liked it! Thank you for reviewing, i really appreciated it!^^

ninascarlet: Wow,- I'm sorry i made you cry. but here's another chapter so you wont get mad at me for that sad chapter earlier. Trust me, I love GrayZa., it just so happened i needed that part for my story... Thanks for reviewing!

dragonoid(Guest): owhhh- i like your name.. reminds me of that arc where Gray had a major spotlight. I'm glad you liked it and I'm definitely continuing this fic!( well, i'm more inspired with more reviews!)

So now, let's get this started with a disclaimer...

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**

****Oh, hey- i made a title for this chapter. Hopefully it would continue on to the next chapters. Haha^^

* * *

Chapter 2: Friends can be lovers, and lovers CAN ALSO be friends

It is a fair day indeed. The sun is shining above Magnolia and showed no signs of bad weather. Everyone's quite in the mood for talk instead of taking missions and the pink dragonslayer is 'fired up' as usual although, compared with the random days where the guild is loud as ever, it is quite peaceful today aside from the occasional rambles that ended just shortly. Natsu didn't seem to get enough with all that because of a certain ice mage who happened to be his sworn-rival-for-life didn't show up as well as an armored scarlet who happened to be everyone's feared disciplinarian.

"Wait. Why the hell are those lovebirds missing again?!" He banged the wooden table loudly.

"I think you should learn to stop being selfish at some time, Natsu*sigh. Just because you wanted someone to argue with doesn't mean you can get your hands on other people's lives. I'm sure they got a pretty good reason for not coming to the guild today, so don't get worked up so easily by that, okay?" Lucy sighed again at the boy's actions, or rather her boyfriend's actions.

"But Luuuuucy~ It's not fun without them—" He pouted making him look so cute.

"Now, now. Why don't you try passing the time while sipping some refreshments?" The ever cheerful Mira came by to the Fairy Tail's strongest team's table to bring some drinks.

"Great! Thanks, Mira!" Lucy clapped her hands together an started sipping her strawberry parfait , her cheeks puffing red like a kid.

The white-haired lady smiled and mouthed her reply before going back to her work. Just then, Natsu's attention was caught in a familiar smell that eventually got into his nerves. He smirked. Someone owes him a good and entertaining fight to make up for the boredom he had because of his absence.

" Oi! Iceblock! You better give me a good fight this time!" Natsu burst out.

He was expecting some cocky reply from the ice mage, but instead, he only wore his usual poker face, eventually frowning as he walk pass by the shouting man and took his seat across Lucy.

" Stop ringing in my ears, you flaming idiot." Was Gray's irritated reply. Man, he's still suffering from such a terrible headache last night that he can't afford another pain in his head.

"What?! Say that again, ice princess!" he pointed at him, trying to break his temper.

"Come on, snowflake! Don't be a sissy!" he continued, earning nothing but a good taste of 'invisible treatment'

Mira comes back to the table and recognize the raven –haired mage joining the group.

"Welcome back, Gray. I see you're having a little reunion here. But I don't see Erza around lately, I thought you were together—Hmm… Do you where she is?" Mira said in her usual smile.

"Yeah, Gray. I really thought you guys would arrive together. By the way, why are you asking, Mira?" she looked at the barmaid for a reply that she didn't even noticed the fire mage finally sitting down and probably gave up since he was just ignored by everyone and so he frowned in disappointment. Luckily, he got curious of Erza's whereabouts enough for letting that disappointment slip by. _Well, there's no fun of fightingwhen she's not around right?_ Or so he thought.

"—Master said if she comes back I'd tell her to see him in his office, perhaps for a new S-class mission. Well, Gray?" Mira turned back to him.

It heaved his heart somehow for hearing her name. It all suddenly came back again.

"I don't know." Was all he could say sipping a glass of drink Mira gave him.

Mira was suddenly taken aback by recognition of the ice mage's voice. Lucy was surprised as well, and Natsu found something's wrong with his senses as he tilted his head towards him with a now serious face.

"What?" he returned a cold gaze to the stares he's given.

"Did something happen between you and Erza, Gray?" Mira asked, a little worried.

"Did you two fight? _You never had one for all of us know._" Lucy thought.

"It's not like she can't take care of herself and I'm not a stalker to always follow her wherever she goes." He sounded disgusted. Right, he wanted them to believe at that.

"Gray…" Lucy frowned.

"You still haven't answered any of our questions." Mira replied in an upset face.

He let along sigh before gaining every bit of his voice. He had decided to do this just yesterday while he cried the rest of the night until falling asleep_. Right, I got to do this._

" We broke up. No, I broke up with her." He said loudly enough for everyone's head to turn to where the voice came from to find out who's breaking up with who. A deafening sound followed. They were all waiting for some kind of laughter from the ice mage saying how horrible their faces went, falling for the joke.

No. he wasn't moving an inch from his seat or displaying his smirk or his signature grin.

.

.

.

.

Okay, maybe it's about time to react now.

"Whaaaaat?!" a loud unison of voices rang the whole guild. Some spat their cold coffees, some lost balance in their chairs or choke on their dessert while some jawdropped: all had disbelieving looks.

The girls gasped as their eyes widened. They were the perfect couple and yet now they heard they broke up. That's enough for them to react that way.

"B-but w-why?-" Lucy managed to say, locking her stare at the mage opposite her.

He looked shocked at that question. Well, he might as well go further now that everyone's buying his lie. He swore to himself he won't let them think of Erza badly in their relationship and so he claims the fault.

" I fell out of love for her." He said in a firm monotone. Inside, he could feel his insides shred to pieces.

"-He doesn't deserve me." He followed, hardly sticking to his firm voice.

This earned the fire dragonslayer literally blowing up into flames while everybody tried to recover with those cold words the ice mage dropped. He stood up in an instant and smashed his fiery fists to the table. Poor table, now scarred with an awfully large hole.

" What did you say?" Natsu spoke in a completely deathly tone. The whole thought of his trusted friend to break Erza's heart, how he was all wrong for believing him, and how he never saw Erza so happy with anyone else but him, and how she is probably crying because of him, had sunk down to him and turned into his sudden outburst.

"Say that bullshit again?! I dare you!" he grabbed the ice mage by his collar. Surprisingly, the legendary stripping ice mage still had his clothes on. He shot a deadly stare towards Gray's face, now so close to him that they could feel each other's breaths.

" I don't have to tell you anything twice, you dope." He put his poker face on making the other man annoyed as hell. He swore to hate anyone who made Erza cry, that was the probable reason why he still can't bring himself to forgive Jellal after all these times.

He swung his fist straight towards Gray's face and sent him flying until he struck into a wall and slid down with all the debris crashing above him. He could've just protected himself with his advanced reflexes but no, he decided not to. This is the only way to deal with Natsu and everybody's anger and disappointment, and besides, he knew that the fire dragonslayer wasn't good enough to hide his feelings as well. It's better to bring it all on him at once. He can understand how everyone reacted, if he was on their place, he'd probably sent the man who hurt their precious comrade to the nearest hospital. Right, he could get used to this for now.

" Natsu! Stop it!" Lucy commanded him to stop but she figured it was completely useless.

"No, Lucy! I won't stop until that bastard learns his lesson and regret everything he did to Erza!" he growled in anger. His skin was literally burning in scorching flames.

Out in the distance, Gray stood groggily and remained there stuck. He wiped blood in his mouth and did nothing to attack the firing mage.

_Damn. I think I broke my jaw _

"I won't forgive him for making Erza cry!" he followed in undeniable bitterness in his voice.

" No! Nattsu!-"

"Are you done yet?" asked Gray in a mocking tone to the enraged fire mage.

"Glad you asked. I'm not letting you out of this guild without breaking your bones to pieces." Natsu answered, still fuming mad.

"Fine. Let's get this over with." Gray tried to sound unthreatened.

"What's going on here?" an all too familiar voice echoed throughout the hall.

Everyone froze at the moment.

She sees the commotion had gone far enough to break the guild's walls and searched for the culprits among the crowd of people. She found Natsu firing up, angrily glaring at someone who stood in the middle of all the rubbles.

"Natsu, Gray. I demand an explanation right now." She said in a towering superior aura.

Everyone was shocked to even hear the ice mage's name from her and even acting so normal in front of them. Even though she was known for her strong personality, they can't help but to picture out a broken down, sobbing , or angry lady at the man who broke her heart.

Great. Her timing is just too great.

"E-Erza…."

"No way...why now?"

"What are you staring at?" she glared at the latter's faces who instantly returned to their places like nothing happened, but still eavesdropping at their conversation.

"Now, tell me or else-"

" Why, that bastard just made you cry! And I'm not letting him pass without regretting everything he said and did to you!" said Natsu who is mad as hell.

_I was supposed to be the reason why he cried last night._

"who—" she was going to ask who told them but was interrupted.

"I told them I broke up with you. That I fell out of love for you.." Gray flatly said.

"-and you still have the guts to tell that straight to her-" Natsu tried to cut him off. But one quick glance from Erza was enough for him to stop interrupting.

"What?—You told them what?" Erza stutters a bit.

" Well, Erza—When we heard it from Gray that he broke up with you, Natsu got really angry and-" Lucy tried to explain but Erza was too dumbfounded to hear her explanation. _What was he thinking?_

"Wait—you got it all wro-" The scarlet tried to say.

"Are we going to argue about this again, Erza?" Gray said quite irritated. But deep inside he's crumbling to the ground.

The hurt in seeing her or talking to her sent a blow heavier than what he physically received. And his eyes betrayed his poker faced mask and yet no one ever seemed to notice.

Erza couldn't somehow decode why he told that lie to them—or was it true? No. his eyes can't lie to someone who knows him better than himself. But why is he doing this? The pain and guilt rushed to her spine but she managed to put it aside, knowing that she's currently standing in a bunch of all familiar people who didn't know the true story.

Finally, the Guild's Master, Makarov arrived at the scene, breaking the building tension. He was so distracted to see the wall of his beloved guild reduced into boulders and debris that he wasn't paying attention to what the whole fuss was about.

"Alright fools! Who wants to explain this terrible mess!?Natsu?! Gray?!-ah, Erza, I'm glad you're back, dear child-" The short man raised a relatively loud voice that wouldn't match to his height and quickly changed his expression faster than how the others could do.

"Thank you, Master." She bowed in respect.

"Very well, then. I want to speak with you about an urgent matter, Erza. Please follow me." He said walking back to where he came from.

"As you wish, Master"

"Now, you useless brats better clean that up, or else-or else I won't be able to know what I would do to you anymore!" he shouted, stretching his arms comically at the two mages before finally disappearing into the scene. Erza followed him obediently.

" You heard Master. Natsu, Gray, I expect this whole mess is cleaned up the moment I step out of Master's office. Is that clear?" she did her usual routine of emitting such dark aura to overwhelm the two mages.

"And Gray… between the two of you and Natsu, I know you still have that common sense to stop this nonsense fight.*sigh. Can I still count on you for that?" She was bossy as ever and she doesn't want any of her feelings to show. Maybe until she comes out from Makarov's office and explain how they all got it wrong with Gray. Whatever it is that he said, everyone actually believed it and even Natsu, that he's even angry at him.

" Yeah. Sure." He replied.

Everyone watched in awe as the two ex-lovers talk so casual and normal despite their issue—only proves them they're not just the perfect couple, but also the perfect ex-lovers.

"How the hell are they doing that?" one mage said.

"-and we need to talk..." she said in a soft tone, not minding everybody's reaction.

"Oh, sure." He said. They're still friends anyway, still close friends. Hell, they're just not the couple they'd thought to be resenting each other after breaking up, after all the reason wasn't an argument or misunderstanding either. They mutually understood and believed that even though they aren't lovers anymore, their friendship won't just break either way, but instead get stronger enough.

But it was only yesterday, and it was still fresh—and so they know it would be really awkward for them to talk casually. At least that's what everyone thinks. And they thought of that, too. And so they both decided on their own to take one step at a time since they knew the other was hurting and the other's still confused. All they had to do was support each other, even without talking about it.

The two battling mages stared at each other for a long time. Until they decided to stop. For now. Natsu knew he could just continue his fight with him anytime they want but right now, Erza's wrath would probably kill them before they do.

"I'm not done with you yet." Natsu sent his last words for the ice mage.

" Whatever. I'm ready when you are." The ice mage shot back. Although he had made up his mind not to fight back.

Just when Natsu is about to do an epic exit, his girlfriend literally dragged him out of his stand to where they sat earlier. Lucy could really get so cute and lovable as a woman could get and she can also be as scary as the Great Titanina could be, under circumstances. And do Natsu shivered by the thought that he really got into her girlfriend's nerves this time. She made him sit on the chair. She was almost firing up like how his boyfriend would normally do.

"Natsu… Sorry I can't help you this time." Said Happy as he hid behind Charles, currently sweatdropping.

"Wait! Why are you so angry at me, Luce?! I was only teaching that idiot his lesson after what he did to Erza!" You feel the same way, too right?!" He tried to protest.

"We all feel the same way, Natsu! But barging into people's business won't make it better! Who knows what reasons they have to decide to end their relationship! But maybe it was for the best! And you saw how they still treat each other as friends, right? That ain't bad enough. I'm sure whatever they decide is what's the best for the two of them somehow. You see what I mean?" For a moment there, Lucy's voice softened in worry or sympathy. Natsu wasn't the type of person to learn things without getting physical- but, maybe he took up that explanation quite good enough, now that he's silenced for the time being.

" and Natsuuuu,-" she dramatically prolonged his name with a sweet voice that'd make any guy freak out.

"Yes, Lucee-"

"YOU DROPPED MY STRAWBERRY PARFAIT WITH YOUR DAMNED RAMPAGING FEAT EARLIER, YOU MORON! THAT'S WHAT I'M ANGRY FOR!"

~ THE NEXT SCENE IS AGREED TO BE CENSORED FOR DISPLAY OF HORRIBLE VIOLENCE AND A WOMAN'S DEMONIC RAMPAGE~^^

*insert screams of help and cries of a beaten up fire mage. Chase. Chase. Chase.

Ahhh~ the whole guild can only sweat drop at that. Now, this couple sure is inseparable by any means (unless someone admitted he/she lost the fight and ran away sulking) Yes, a perfect comic relief for all of them to see just when everyone's tangled up in such a tensed situation.

"My, my, look at how lovely they are even when fighting!" the ever lively Mira placed a hand on her cheek in amusement.

"~Speak of the devil-"

* * *

I made some humor in this chap-so tell me, was that okay? was my humor okay? i would definitely accept any comments and suggestions, especially that i dont know what kind of story can i make with JerZa, mind helping me out? oh, tell me about how good or bad my grammar went(i'm trying to improve it recently)-Don't forget to review! Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

.Heyy guys!*raises hands in the air in defensive form* oh no- I'm so sorry for taking so long with this chapter. Don't worry though, I intended to do that because I decided to spend my time writing in advance and then typing it to my computer and then voila! Publish it like usual.. Nuhohohoho! I'll try to encode the future chapters as early as possible before my dreaded exams D:

As for this chapter, I tell you this is gonna be long. Finally, Jellal and his team will show up in this chapter, too! Hurray for major story development! Really, i visioned this story to be shorter but while I was writing the next chapters, it got complicated and reaaallly long. I figured it will be too much dragging-but I'll try to change it and- I apologize(to all GrayZa fans out there)that there will be more JerZa chapters in the future.. And Gray, well I'll emphasize his feelings about it. Then- then-wait, I'm already telling the story-*sigh- thank heavens I haven't told you the WHOLE of of it:) Hang on, dear readers!

So for my dear reviewers,

**Raikiri80**: Glad you found that out. You'll have to stay tuned to find the answer yourself. Hehe. Thanks dor reviewing AGAIN!yay!

**Milafox12**: Finally! The next chapter is here! Ahhh- I really want to learn Kung fu badly. Hahha. Good luck kicking butts with your new found skills!:)

**Guest(guest):** thank you for the suggestion, you helped a lot! I think i have an idea now! Thank you so much! Hope you're still into this fic:)

**Iceboy(guest):** Wow, what a name you got there, bro! Hehe. I say you're a good reader, too. Well, what do you think? I finally made Jellal's appearance here. You'll find the answer here, too. Of course, if you're an obsevervant like you were before. Hehe. I could give you a cookie for a good guess like that!:D

**Grayza fan(guest):** yay! You read Gray's actions easily.(did I state the obvious on the last chapter?) hahaha. And here's another chapter! Hope you'll still like it even though there's roughly a GrayZa scene here, just Jellal's debut appearance in here:)

**AnimeLuver1885**: owhhh, I'm so touched because you reviewed 2 times! Thanks for reading and I'm glad you liked it- true, this story doesn't get much not I'm not really affected much-especially because I have all of you who appreciate my work! It makes me fuzzy and warm inside. Thank you! Thank you, everyone! I'll try my best to not disappoint you and make all of you happy! I'll be looking forward for your story, too! Yay for GrayZa!

So I'm guessing that makes all of it.. Disclaimer pleaseee!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail**.

* * *

Chapter 3: The wait is over

Lucy, dusting off her hands,mentally congratulated herself for successfully letting her pent up rage towards his boyfriend(Well, let her be this time, okay? It rarely happens. After all, she's the only one who could put up with a hardheaded dragonslayer like Natsu) as she walked back to the table. Like a snap of a hand, another glass of strawberry parfait was sitting on her table, while Mira smiled cheerfully going back to the counter to finish her job of wiping utensils.

Out in the middle of what's left after their heated fight, the two youths didn't even bother to look at each other despite working their muscles to fix their mess—Natsu was still angry, and Gray was still silent. Natsu wanted a fight, while Gray wanted this kind of peace, silence over his mind to at least get rid of his problems.

" My, my. What kind of mess is this again?" A mature female's voice echoed from the guild's entrance. She seemed to have company out from the shadows, outlined by the gleam of light blocked by their figures.

"Ahh—I wouldn't be surprised about it, Tear-san." Said the younger female beside her.

"Well, this is Fairy Tail we knew." The only man in the group spoke.

Everyone's eyes locked on them-surprised at the familiar voices that reminded them of their glorious past—the Grand Magic Games.

The year 3 years past had been a memorable one for Fairy Tail. That year, their patient waiting for 7 years had paid off when Natsu and the rest of Tenroujima team came back safe and sound. Their participation to the annual Grand Magic Games with the sole purpose of regaining the lost pride of their guild had resulted to one of the usually unusual troubles they'd get into. Lucy being chased by the kingdom itself for the completion of the Project Eclipse, the dark enormous presence hovering over the tournament, the summoning of the terrifying Acnologia, and Zeref's unexpected appearance became the highlighted parts of the supposedly annual battle of Fiore's guilds. Team Natsu once again took action and had been the culprits for some head bashing with the kingdom's respected officials and upper-ranks, a direct confrontation to Queen, and together with the revealed Crime Sorciere, caused some rampaging feats to finally snap the kingdom into their senses, and then face the terrifying Acnologia being unstoppable…AT FIRST. Add the alliance of the dark guilds and Iwan Dreyar's evil plans, all participating legal guilds had no choice but to engage in battle, too. Finally, with the first Master of Fairy Tail's strategies and the unexpected temporary alliance of all the guilds present resulting to a massive assembly of magic in just one spot, the battle was won, all thanks to the leadership of Fairy Tail.

But despite the contribution of Crime Sorciere for having just saved the whole world of magic, the fact still remained that they were still fugitives who had spent years hiding away from the Council and posing a threat to them. The council never put this aside and never considered, and so with them taking appearance that day, they took the opportunity to finally catch them. Being satisfied with the chaos finally put into an end, the independent guild decided that maybe, this will also be the most perfect time to atone for their sins and surrender completely to the authority. Since then, they were never seen by any of their newly-found allies.

Not until now.

Three years have passed, they weren't sure if they can still be accepted into the world that left them behind the rails. Standing in front of the guild who took them as comrades since that day, it was awkward being met with wide-eyed awes and surprise.

"I-Is t-that really them?"

"T-they had returned-it is really them!"

"Welcome back, minna! I'm glad you returned safe and sound!" Mira pitched in with a warm smile and a happy tone, perhaps one of the happiest tones she had.

"The Council finally set them free! I can't believe it took them that long! Those bastards never-" Cana's plan to insult the Council was instantly cut off. For two additional figures had come out behind the three revealed mages. Soldiers.

"A—Anyway…. We're glad you're back, guys! It's been a long time since then!"

The merry sound of greetings, heartily laughs, messages of missing them, stories waiting to be told, and the excitement and gratefulness were all conveyed on their smiling faces as all of Fairy Tail's mages ran to them, crowding them in circle and asking them with lots of questions along with the warm words of welcoming. The reluctance in the three mages' eyes faded away as they saw how everyone was pleased to them again. It was all the same back then when they were eagerly accepted into the group and fought alongside with them. The same warmth that they longed to feel again behind those bars now welcomed them back to the real world.

" How are you guys? Did they tortured you in prison? Did they do terrible things to you?"

"Stop that already! What's important now is that they're finally free! Yay!"

"I agree for the first time with you, Macao!"

"You sure to have grown thinner, Ultear, Meredy, and Jellal too!—I'm sure you guys are hungry."

" You look lively as ever, Ultear!"

"Kawaii, Meredy-chan!"

" Wait—what the hell are those guards doing here?!" a certain fire dragonslayer blurted out pointing at those soldiers.

"Watch your mouth kid!" one of them said.

"Oh, yeah? Well how about-" Natsu's desire of smacking the soldiers was cut off by Jellal.

"I'm sorry, but we might as well save our explanation for later. Anyway, Natsu wild you be kind enough to tell me where Master Makarov is?" he said in a modest, respectful tone.

"Owh, Come on Jellal. Don't have to be formal you know." Lucy smiled cheerfully.

"Lucy's right, Jully with the big head tattoo! We've known each other!" Natsu said grinning. He had to admit that he actually liked him to be his friend even before the Grand Magic Games. They made a good team, too. His issue with Erza is an entirely different topic.(Weird ,right?)

"It's Jellal, you jerk! And stop making names of people!"

" Right, right.. I forgot."

Jellal sweatdropped seeing the two mages in front of him.

"Well, Master is just behind that door and I believe he's waiting for you guys for some urgent matter so-" Mira happily pointed.

"Yes, thank you Mira-" Meredy hanged up for the moment, not sure if calling her-san, will not offend her. The time skip really did the thing of confusing ages with numbers.

"Awwh—call me Mira-nee if you want, okay?Besides, I don't really mind."She curved a warm pleasing smile before the pink-haired girl.

"Mira-nee…." She stuttered, slightly embarrassed of how she might sound ridiculous.

"Me too! Call me Lisa-nee! Remember me? I'm Mira-nee's younger sister!" Meredy was surprised to hear another white-haired girl's reply.

Ultear who was getting separated by the crowd, worried about Meredy, but seeing her blending with the guild's atmosphere so quick and with that smile on her face, she pushed aside her 'motherly' instincts.

She's all grown up now.

Out in the corner of her eye, she finally saw the man he was currently looking for. None other than his mother's former student and the guy who brought her senses back, Gray Fullbuster. He was smiling with the crowd, joining from behind them. But she saw his eyes were different from the normal lively ones she was used to. Finally, the ice mage noticed her stare and smiled, half-heartedly.

" So you're finally free, huh.. Welcome back, Ultear." He smirked with one of his signature ones as he makes his way towards his teacher's daughter.

"Still acting older than me all these years, aren't you Gray? Guess you'll never learn to count the difference of our ages." She said meeting him with a smile.

"Oh, yeah? If I do that, it'll only make you older that what you look like. You wouldn't want that, would you?" he pulled off. A vein popped into her head and stared at him with annoyance.

"Relax. Just a joke." He immediately took it back although he never regretted it, seeing how she easily fell for that.

"What's with that ugly look on your face anyway? I've come out of the prison only to meet your negative vibes." She said, trying not to sound directly that she was figuring him out.

He paused.

"W-Well whatever it is, it is definitely not something you should know about or worry over." He refused to look at her in the eyes. With this, Ultear knew he wasn't going to tell her about it. A part of her worried about him although he denied it was something to get worked up about. But she understood anyway.

"Well, I hope so. Because I'd personally tell my mother to haunt you at night just to scare that gloomy aura out of you and I'll gladly see how uglier can your face get." She chuckled a bit. It was her way of showing concern to the younger ice mage, having considered him as his younger brother along with Lyon. She felt the responsibility to take over her mother's task to look after them.

She was met with a surprised look from the mage. Maybe, he wasn't used to Ultear casually talking about her mother, Ul. It was a good sign. He smiled truthfully at that.

"What?" she said, freaking out of his sudden expression.

"Nothing."

A voice cut them off.

"Oh, well. See you later, Gray."

"Yeah."

And so the rest of the group finally entered Makarov's office. In the mean time….

"Minna! I say we have a special celebration tonight for our friends! Who's with me?" Mira announces to the guild. Everyone raised their hands, shouting gleefully. And within a minute, the guild became festive and upbeat.

* * *

If I made any mistake here, please do care to tell me. Haha. I made this on my mobile so I can't see much. Oh, and I wanted to ask you guys- while writing this, many ideas suddenly popped into my mind and wrote it down. Now, I don't know what to publish first so please leave review for your choice among the following:

**The sleeping beauty- **a short multi-chapter of GrayZa. This is story about a scarlet who fell into a deep sleep while her friends are struggling to live and protect their home, and her in the midst of war. Then, there goes her closest friend who never failed to visit her and never lost hope that maybe, just maybe one day she'll wake up again.

**Lullaby**- Gray is sick, you'll never know how a certain scarlet will worry.

**What I've done**- Mainly Gray in focus. He wakes up one day, not remembering anything. Even his past, except for a certain name 'Erza'. As he tries to recollect all the fragments of his past, another yet adventure and surprising revelations will await him. But why are his friends hiding something from him?

**A not-so-ordinary day-**Oneshot. One day, Team Natsu decided to go on a mission when they meet a mysterious 6year old girl on the way. Definitely not an OC story. Just a humor-mystery fic with carnivals and parks as setting.

Now, do tell me! Till next time!


	4. Chapter 4

Well, I can't believe it took me almost a month to update-Dang. I've got no excuses for it, coz I'm a lazy person, a busy student, and a sickly human as that. Hah. I hope next year will be a good year for me. Hehe. Now, let's see- this fic is going to be a long one. I hope it doesn't put you guys off on this, though. NEH, I've made you wait for so long, and I guess I have replied to you guys through PM:) it was so fun talking to you guys! Hehe. Again, thanks for the support!

**TsundereFairy:** Thank you so much for responding! I'm glad one of my bunnies caught your attention^^

**graysama:**OOOhhhhh-Thanks! I'm glad to hear your side, too!

**regina scarlet: **Owwhh-Another JerZa fan!Yay!~well, even though this is a GrayZa fic, I hope the JerZa moments in this chap and the next ones will satisfy you! I'm glad to have the other side of the two pairings!~Yay!

For those who are still interested in voting for my next multi-chapter stories( which I won't post 'till this story ends-nyahahha. ), you can just click the Chap 3 and well, read the summaries that might interest you^^.

Nowwwww-

**Disclaimer: In my whole life's existence, I've never seen a fairy with a tail. I never owned Fairy Tail. Pfffftt. Where's the connection?**

* * *

Chapter 4: Taken for granted

**A week before...**

_The day I personally received the letter from The Magic Council's official messenger, my heart throb with a mix of feelings I never felt for ages. I'm nervous of what I will__ read and figure out. Especially that it's him, Jellal. Since the day they've decided to surrender to the authority, I never heard from them again. I don't know if Master knows about this already. But whatever it is, I'll soon find out. _

_I sat comfortably on my bed with a pillow on my lap. As I grasp for the corner of the yellowed paper, a sudden thought rushes into me. _

_**Maybe they will be executed**._

_ My heart skipped a beat and sent a bitter taste to my throat. No. The Magic Council promised to consider their act at the Grand Magic Games and let them live._

_ My hands went cold and stiff. These are the moments I feel so weak, unarmored. I swallowed hard to keep the fear from threatening me. Jellal. I muttered his name, and with that, all memories came back to me. My heart raced as those flashes of images flowed into me. As if it was moving on its own, my hands turned to feel my lips. _

_The almost-kiss. _

_How could I forget that? That feeling. _

_I slowly opened the letter as my attention withdrawed from my surrounding. I never even bothered to look at my fingers, trembling. Jellal, please be okay._

* * *

_Dear Erza,_

_ I know it's been a long time and I'm sorry if we never got to say our proper goodbyes. I hope you still remember me. _

**_Of course I do._**

_ How have you been doing all this time? I know you can always take care of yourself but I can't help to constantly worry about you. All those times that I felt so down, I always think of you and how your scarlet hair reminds me of those sunsets we used to see when we hoped for freedom behind that tower. Those were the moments I treasured the most and gave me hope that maybe one day, I'll see you again. I still haven't repay you with all the debts of saving me countless times. I want to make up for the things we lost._

_ I'm sorry if I had been a burden to you, for causing you too much. There're tons of things I want to say to you, and I regretted not saying before we departed our ways. But I never lost hope that this day will come. The Council has finally decided to set us free. They said that of we do what they say, we might just be lifted of our sentences. I will be able to explain to you everything once I get back. _

_ Our time might be limited for now, as this piece of paper will never be enough to contain the words I wanted to say to you, but I hope it isn't too late. For me. For us. I always loved you, Erza Scarlet. I never stopped dreaming to see you again._

_ Jellal Fernandez_

* * *

**_Jellal...I -I- already forgave you a long time ago._**

_This feeling rose up to me again. _

_This feeling I thought-I thought I had buried a long time ago. I was too thrilled by the news. He's back-he's finally back. I can't help that my eyes started to cloud with tears. I never cried in years._

_ Longing._

_ Perhaps I never stopped believing this day will come, too. I feel so happy. No. This is an understatement. I feel no words can explain my happiness. It's like a heavy part of my chest was lifted up in that exact moment. _

**_That's right. I never forgot you for once, Jellal. _**

_Then a face-_

_ "I love you. I always will."_

_ A sudden feeling of warmth came to me- a hand into my scarlet head. It's the one thing that calms me. Tonight, it was different. _

**_Gray... _**

_No. No. I had moved on. All those feelings for you, all the pain I had to go through-how my heart was broken because of you- I've moved on. He brought me up from my knees again while you pulled me down to my sorrow of you leaving me; he fought the tears I laid on you that I don't even know of you did the same for me, too; he lifted my burdens and insecurities, and shared our sadness together while you caused most of them: he loves me. I love him._

_ I care for you- I always wanted to protect you._

**_ I love you, too. _**

_No! I cant-I shouldn't- _

_**Why did you have to come back!** No. I wanted you back. _

_Tears started to roll uncontrollably down to my cheeks, immediately wetting the pillow and the letter in my shaking hands. I had to drop it. I can't seem to have the strength to hold it. I lost every will to get a grip to the letter. To myself. _

**_Because I loved you._**

_Does that mean I only used Gray to get over you?_

_Then there it was. The pain of guilt._

_Does that mean I've taken him for granted?_

She cried for the rest of the night, unrested. She was never this confused. Never this uncertain. Never this indecisive. Never this shattered and messed up behind her armor. She was too guilty of thinking about the ice mage, too hurt to think about Jellal. She felt being the most terrible mage, a villain for being so selfish. Her weakness inflicting pain to her nakamas she held so close. She was a famous S-class mage, one whose intelligence is remarkably stunning, thus being respected and admired by all. And yet she was the dumbest in these situations.

But she loved him. And she has to make a decision, sooner or later to prevent further hurting. To either of them. And sad to say, only one of them will be spared.

* * *

There you go! I know you've waited soooo damn long. SSSOOOORRRYY. Part 2 of this will be up, before you know it!-hehe. after that, we'll go back to the present time where we left at.

Review? please..Hehe. i know- OOC a bit. might give me some comments? Was it bad or worth it? Oh, if my grammars really bug you-tell me, in a nice way so I can know my mistakes.

Sorry for GrayZa fans out there that I might broke your heart on this one~ Don't worry.

Hehe.

See yah!


	5. Chapter 5

Merry Christmas, everyone! this is my little gift to all of you guys reading, and following my story^^ Thank you so much! Now, this here won't be too eventful-but this will serve as an 'introduction' to the conflict of the story(Yay! for a story development!)

Kay! on to the-

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

**owh, this is gonna be looooongggg..**

* * *

Chapter 5: Home

_**Flashback part II**_

_It was a blazing hot sunny day in Magnolia, and a certain female redhead was aimlessly wandering the streets of the place. It had been days since she had read the letter. Days of not showing up in the guild, and days of saying terrible excuses of her catching a bad cold. She figured out nobody ever bought her lie, nevertheless they decided on not pursuing further for they knew it was crossing boundaries, especially that it was Titania of all the people. She was just thankful enough, at the same time felt horrible having no one to open up to without Gray who was currently on a solo mission. He was the only one who'd ever calm her down, but right now, with all her jazzed up feelings between him and Jellal, his presence would've been much painful for her, and will be for him if he knew. _

_She found her feet stopping in front of guild's gate. and then, walked through guild- surprisingly only few of them were left while the rest probably took up some missions. There she found Mira, as usual cleaning up the utensils at the bar while humming a cheerful tune. _

_"Oh, hey there, Erza. Are you feeling better?" she happily greeted her fellow guild mate. _

_She knew no matter how innocent the white-haired waitress looked like, she knew about her alibis long time ago. She walked closer to the bar where she was before showing off a smile, which indicated it was okay for them to not play each other's games. _

_"You know, if we didn't grew up together, I would've been surprised that you knew about my alibis, Mira. I don't know what to say. Thank you, for not telling the truth to everyone." she sat down heavily as if her armor was weighing her down but put a small yet meaningful smile on her face. _

_Mira's expression softened. She knew this girl was so polite and formal at the same time whenever she speaks, but this was giving her the different creeps. She knew something was bothering her, and she's rarely being bothered by anything. And she wanted to know the reason behind her sobs only the white-haired waiter heard in the middle of those nights when everyone else were too tired, sleeping after their own missions. So, she decided to infiltrate Erza's armor. _

_"What's bothering you, Erza?" She laid one of the glasses she wiped with a cloth and turned her complete attention to her, leaning her elbows to the counter. _

_Erza only bowed down. She didn't know if it was right to tell her, or where to even start. She was all she had whom she can rely on, and she was glad it was her. _

_"I-Jellal. H-he's back." Those words. Just those words and she ended with a sigh while remained bowed down. _

_She was afraid of what Mira would say after hearing her out. Her doubts seem to caused her to be more ashamed of herself. _

_"Mira, is-I know it's wrong. I'm not supposed to. The Council will set them free anytime now. But why does he have to bring it along with him?!" she tightened her gauntlets before slamming it to the hard wood, earning the remaining guild member's eyes fixed on her. _

_She didn't mind. They'd go back to their own business sooner or later. _

_"I can't understand. I-" she shook hard. _

_Then, a pair of soft warm hands held her cold armored ones that stopped her from continuing any ex-S class mage knew about her that much. _

_"Don't think, Erza." She moved her hands to the exquip mage's covered chest. _

_"Feel."_

_ This startled the Great Titania, more. She didn't need further explanation, no more words to show how she feels right now. Her once-rival knew just that easily. _

_Feel. _

_"Oh, Welcome back, Gray!" she snapped out of her reverie as she heard the barmaid call his name. She could feel his presence coming closer. The miraculously-still-dressed mage sat behind her armored girlfriend. _

_"Erza, thought I'd pass by Fairy Hills- how've you been doing?" he asked usually. _

_But earned nothing out of her as he saw the scarlet somehow, stick in her own thoughts while staring at him. If she wasn't get girlfriend, he would've died with those stares. _

_"Erza?" _

_"hu-Gray..W-welcome back." _

_He stole a quick glance the barmaid currently looking at the two of them. As if replying to his own thoughts, Mira's showed a sympathetic smile, hiding the worry behind her sapphire eyes. With this, the ice mage stood, startling the redhead out of her wits and immediately wondered if he might be angry. He took her cold metallic hands and while she almost lost her balance being pulled out of her chair all of the sudden. And literally dragged the Great Titania out of the guild._

_ "Gray!-" _

_"Mira, tell Master I haven't came back yet!" he said playfully storming out the guild while dragging the scarlet behind. _

_"Gray, what are-" _

_"No questions." he said. _

_She doesn't know if he was mad or anything because he had his back turned away from him. _

_"B-but you-"_

_ "No buts."_

_ "G-Gray! I dema-" then a soft warm sensation hit her lips. _

_He kissed her just that. She suddenly forgot everything, but her and him. "You moron! Come back here!" too late, he already got her into a chase as he ran towards the park._

**_ - End of flashback..._**

* * *

_It was for the best._

Erza kept repeating these words through her mind. That she didn't notice the door cracked open to reveal the three hooded mages.

"Ahhh—Welcome back, you three!" The Master waved cheerfully sitting in his desk.

Her heart paced faster as he heard _his_ voice. She can't believe it.

"Thank you, Master." They all greeted back.

Jellal can't help but turn to what seemed to be a redheaded person standing beside him. Her scarlet hair that always reminded him of _her_ name.

"Erza.." He hardly spoke while he stared at the woman, armored as always, but matured in a lot ways.

"Jel—lal." She found herself stuck, gazing over his features, his blue hair, his face, the tattoo, his eyes—she missed them all.

.

.

And the world around them seemed to stop. Distance enclosing them together.

But a light strike to his gut snapped them both to the reality. It was her, Ultear. And the dark-haired woman only smiled a playful grin. Oh, how she loved teasing those two. Meredy can't help but make a funny face, and can't stop giggling about it.

"O—Oh—right.. Welcome back, Ultear, Meredy, and you, too Je—Jellal." Yes. The great Titania stammered saying his name aloud. Add the embarrassment from the awkward silence earlier.

Jellal looked away, hiding his red face. So, he was still the same even after those years.

A light cough broke the momentarily awkward feeling inside the room.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, young ones. I'm afraid we'll gonna have to set it aside for a while. It heaves me that this is the way that we have to meet again." Makarov referred to the once disbanded Crime Sorciere.

"-but, I have to say this matter is really important for us to discuss." He continued.

"Yes. I agree, Master Makarov." Jellal quickly gained his composure back.

"S-So, what exactly is going on, Master?" Erza always had that attitude of getting straight to the point as much as possible.

"Ah—right then. Listen carefully, Erza." The old man sighed heavily, crossing his arms before started speaking.

"Two years ago, after being satisfied about the Balsam Alliance destroyed during the Grand Magic Games, The Council received a very reliable source that there is yet another Alliance formed from the remains of the earlier broken Alliance. Only this time, they were able to convince _all_ the dark guilds existing in the land of Fiore. That was the information. Investigations were deployed right after, and the evidences proved it to be more dangerous than it seems. There was a rapid increase of the number of the dark wizard guilds, and along with it were bulks of reports stating their activities showing they are continuously growing and becoming more of a threat: black markets, slave trades, gambling, illegal hunting and possessing of forbidden and powerful magic, and even terrorizing small towns that were almost hard to reach for the kingdom's army. These activities have slowly reached the civilians' awareness that they were afraid that it would cause a wide panic and make matters worse. So, they acted on consistently handling the situation with the number of personas involved, with the cooperation of the Kingdom's forces." Makarov explained as anger built up his aura.

"However, it was only this year that they accepted the fact that it was going out of their control. The Council's hired high-ranked mages had either been reported missing, or come back dead. At the same time, the kingdom's battalions assigned in attacking the dark guilds had now decrease in number. The casualties have gotten a lot worse as they couldn't anymore handle many dark guilds all at once. That is why they sought help from few of the strongest guilds in Fiore and bringing out representatives to fight alongside them and for the name of their guilds." Jellal relayed the information he was briefed few days ago.

"That is the reason why they brought us here, along with other prisoners whom they thought could be useful for once, to offer a deal of our cooperation and service in exchange of our freedom. " Ultear bowed her head while telling this.

"W-What do you mean?" Erza bolted up upon hearing such explanation. She didn't saw it coming for she thoroughly believed that they were set free for good. Her thoughts suddenly came down to sympathize for him, Jellal.

"Ultear's right, Erza. I'm sorry for not telling you this earlier." Jellal looked away, not wanting to meet Erza's gaze.

"They're going to use us, to risk our lives for something we don't know if we're going to survive in exchange of-" Meredy can't help but to voice out her emotions about their situation as well. But pain coursed through her right arm, she flinched suddenly.

"Meredy!—I told you to not do that again!" Ultear said, nervously checking on the younger girl with Jellal.

All eyes in the room except them turned to their way. They knew they needed explanation. As if on a cue, they removed the cloak that covered their arms. And there they saw a mark, a scar placed on their right shoulders that glowed in bright purple. It was in a shape of a star inside a circle and the smallest runes tracing the features. The purple light was revealed to be like a flame that spread slowly over their skin, as the scar dug its way right through the flesh, leaving it sore red. Erza and Makarov were taken aback. As words were left hanging from their tongues. The sight was disturbing, and cruel. But what angered them most is that it was being suffered by their comrades.

"W—hy?How?" Erza managed to choke out. She could feel the despising aura behind her Master as they both saw the scars.

"It's a magic spell to track us down, to restrain every movement that might appear to them as a sign of defiance. These runes will spread out every time we do something against them, and will kill us if it reaches our hearts." Meredy barely managed to speak.

"Even if without these scars, we don't have much choice. It was the only way we live. Either way, they'd kill us if we don't agree to them." Jellal softly said, trying to hold back his anger towards the one responsible for this.

"Why those despicable fools-"

Erza never spoke this harsh towards the Council she always respected.

"Erza, calm down.—I feel the same way, too.—"the Master shivered in anger, much anger than the scarlet. But he was rational enough to stop himself.

"I know it must have been hard for the three of you, to get played on by those bastards by using your will to live against you. I understand. However, those fools just won't be too successful on that. Because they've messed with the wrong wizards."

Now, how did that matter became theirs, too?

"That's right. I assure you this mission won't be a cause of a single death from you. It will be as easy as pie, before they know it—those dark guilds will be wiped out in no time! You've got everyone in Fairy Tail at your back!" Makarov proudly said, almost as quickly his scary aura faded out and gave them the determined look.

"Yes. I, along with every one of us in Fairy Tail am willing to help you, Jellal, Meredy, and Ultear." Erza said in a firm, assuring tone. Now that it was her mission, too, she isn't gonna let them die, or hurt—not on her watch. She isn't going to let him die, now that he has finally got the chance of the life he wanted. They wanted.

And the three mages were left in awe. They never expected this much support.

* * *

"Oh, before I forget. I have something to tell you." Makarov, now standing outside the opened door, once again turned his head to the speechless trio.

Despite the noisy, messed up scene of mages in the hall currently 'partying' for their friends' coming, Makarov continued.

"When this all ends, if you ever wanted a bunch of rowdy and mischievous bunch of people to be a part of your family, Fairy Tail will always welcome you _home."_

The crowd stopped as they turned their way to the three mages. Hearing Makarov, they all flashed their brimming faces of smiles, welcoming them as a part of the family, excitement written all over their actions of approval, and gladly gave their warm invitations as well. Erza was no exception as a sincere smile was on her face, too.

They felt tears ready to fall anytime after hearing and seeing everyone radiating such pleasant auras. They're never been this accepted, welcomed, and treated a part of a family in their entire lives. It was too much of what they expected to be. They were happy enough to know they will be right behind their backs whenever they need them. They could not ask for more, and yet this guild has given them more than enough they thought they deserved. And not any words of gratefulness will be enough to express their feelings, but right now it was all they can do. But they promised that maybe someday, when all of this ends, they _will be_ able to pay everyone back.

"Y-yes. T-thank you, Master… Everyone..."

* * *

Nope. this is soooo long that I won't be able to put my normal length-author's note. Just-Review, pleaseee? it's one special gift I could receive this Christmas. Thank you soooo much! I promise to reply to all reviews including from the last chapter. ~Merry Christmas from IcedSoulFairy.


	6. Chapter 6

Oh, hey guys!-hides-I'M SORRY!I'M SOO SORRY! Gods, I've been out for terribly long, huh? I'm soo sorry.

:You've been slacking work again? Are you, Ice?

:Gaawds, Why the hell are you here?!

:*points gun* Shut up and get back to work.

:Waaaii-Fine, fine!-oi, get out of here, it's not even a place where you should be in!

:Huh. You dare question the world's strongest hitman?

:-G-gaah! Noo! Not at all!

:Hurry up already...

:Aack-

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Anyone. Lol.**

**(Chocolate ice cream, anyone?)**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Of Guns and Scarlets**

"-raaay. Oi."

"..Oh, huh?"

"You know it's rude when you're not listening to a person talking in front of you."

_Damn. She reeked alcohol. Did I spaced out that much?_

"Uhh, sorry- what was that again?" I asked.

"Ugh. Never mind..." she said in a slurred and groggy manner. A barrel of alcohol banged the table for the upteenth time.

_Seriously? She's rambling about boys and alcohol this long?_

Cana. Yup, she's my close friend. But sometimes, I wonder how did I ever got used to this lady drunkard.

"Hey, it's been a long time since we got to a mission together. What do you say, huh? Some S-class mission would probably warm us up." she grins in front of me , eyes drowned in alcohol.

So yeah, lots of things happened inside and outside of Fairy Tail.

Even since she disappeared for that mission.

"I say it's going to be a blast!" she greedily drank in one gulp her 5th barrel that day.

And I thought she would consider changing herself after she passed the S-class exams along with us, Firebrains, Juvia, and, Gajeel.

That was another story for a another time.

_Well, why dont we give it a try? I'm pretty sure our partnership hadn't rusted through these years._

"Fine.. But only after you put yourself back together. I wouldn't want to sit a whole day on a train with someone reeking booze and causing me trouble for your little stunts."

And for a moment, I saw her grumpy expression. Clearly annoyed.

"~hey, I don't sm-eek, yuck. That much."

_Ha ._

"Go home and fix yourself. I'll meet you here tomorrow morning." I shoved her from her seat and pushed her out of the guild's doors.

_Seriously, she should act more formal_.

There, finally. I was alone. Again. Staring yet again at the enormous metallic entrance doors of our guild. Hoping the a silhouette of scarlet will appear right there. That I'll know she's home.

_I wonder how she's been doing. Oh, what am I thinking. She's THE Titania_.

But instead I saw pink.

"We're baaaack! Did we miss anything?!"

"Ayeee! We're back!"

Great.

* * *

Large masses of boulders and wood came flying in all directions above the four hooded mages. Apparently, they were the reason why chaos literally blew up in the place where a proud guild Black Lotus once stood. Yet another black guild on their target list was about to be crossed out.

"Curses! I'll get back on you, Titania!" they heard a man amp g the ruins yell out, almost threatening if not for the fur of coughs that followed.

"That's a rather interesting empty threat." Ultear dusted her long black cloak, managing a cocky reply to something supposedly not directed to her.

"I guess that's enough, Ultear. We need to get going. It's almost sunset." A red head stood up, wearing an all usual battle-fashioned appearance; a slightly-ruined armor, a few cuts and scratches, and a fiery in her eyes that matched her blazing scarlet hair. Just like a war goddess.

"Yeah. That's right." the blue-haired man, Jellal of his late twenties spoke with calmness.

The four-man team walked casually away from what's left of their enemy's guild. Just like always.

"Finally..." he thought, a long sigh escaped his lips before breathing as much as fresh air to calm his adrenaline-pumped veins.

The Guild master did put up a good fight, let's just say one's arrogance has its limits,and it was hilarious that his loud-mouth slipped important information accidentally.

Their exit could've been epic. If only there was no disturbing presence behind their backs that made Jellal shudder. Out from the corner of his eye, he saw something shimmered against the sun's fading rays. It was too much accurately-aimed for a shard of glass stuck on a random height.

He could hear the three females in front of him talking about dinner and marshmallows. But he didn't have the time to register their ongoing conversation as his mind went blank, finding himself acting on pure reflexes reaching up to a certain scarlet.

A trigger was pulled and rang a screaming gunshot.

"Erza!" She turned only to get tackled roughly to the ground. The impact had her back complained.

No words were spoken as it only took one swift movement to take the one last enemy out.

"He should've took the time to escape." Meredy put her hands down and the two figures laid on top of each other awkwardly.

"I have to admit those weapons really makes them difficult to handle. Without them, they'd just be ordinary rebels with low-ranking magic. Tch.- Hey, are you guys okay?" Ultear helped them sit up. A small amount of blood dripped from the taller man's sleeve. He flinched slightly.

"It's okay. I'm lucky he missed by that much. He smiled at Erza's worried expression.

"Damn. I should've known they had those weapons, too." Erza clenched her knuckles white. Had she been more alert, or had more strength left to stay on guard, this won't happen.

"True. But at least we know this things called guns haven't been distributed fully across the members of the Alliance." Ultear held her chin smartly, recollecting while the pink-haired girl attended to Jellal's wound.

"They won't be a trouble yet, I guess." Meredy busied herself knotting a white cloth over the injury.

"Not yet, but if we won't stop them, it will become a big disadvantage among us, the royal army, and the legal guilds if they're really putting an assault." Erza quickly said, still self-loathing for being reckless that almost killed her comrade.

She stretched her hand to the sitting man and the other grabbed on it to get himself pulled up. The warmth on her smile quickly returned seeing him relieved if pain.

"...~ soo.. I was saying.. Anyone up for roasted marshmallows ?" the redhead said in a fairly adorable manner.

"AYEE!" was the answer of the latter.

And as they trudged,

"I really think we could actually make a good family. Jellal's the father and of course, Erza's got to be the mother and we'd be sisters, Meredy." some dark-haired woman snickered from behind. A pink-haired smaller girl laughed at the comment, joining the latter teasing the other two. They exchanged weird looks and the scarlet couldn't miss the mischief that sparkled in their eyes.

She did _not_ blush like her hair's color.

"S-stop it, you guys.." Jellal flustered in bright red and obviously stammered.

* * *

Extra:

Beside the campfire they've made, two figures circled the pieces of wood that slowly were losing their flame. One dark blue, and one red headed.

Just enjoying the silence accompanied by the light snores from their two teammates.

"You don't have to do that every time, you know. I could've handled myself back there." Erza said, trying desperately to mask the guilt under her voice.

"I'm sorry." she muttered softly, almost silently.

"Stop saying that. You know you'd do the same for me, anyway."

"I'm sorry."

'Ahh-still the same Erza I knew.'

"Okay..okay.. I already said it's alright."

Then a soft peck on the forehead caught her off-guard.

* * *

Yes. Erza was kind of OOC( kind of hardheaded on the Extra). Gray, too. Haha. And yes, it's been like 2 or 3 years since Erza left the guild for the mission. Yes, guns were slowly introduced in this era. Weird, huh? Haha. Who could guess who I talked to at the beginning? Or where did I get the idea of 'guns'? Haha. That's all for now. I think I'm gonna be busy since-yeahh, school's got a final wave of challenges before closing another school year. Haha. But I'll be back!:3 I promise.

Don't forget to review!

**Thanks for sticking to this story for this long*hugs***

**Ahahahaha!;3**

**Love lots, Ice~**

**P.S. Oh, please, if you find mistakes here, I'm glad to hear from you*winks* gaaawds, I hope my language isn't rusty. Ha. Sorry for the trouble.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: ...**

**RainYama: ahahaha!.. Ice is speechless today.**

** ...**

**RainYama: Ahaha! Okay..looks like I'm gonna have to do the Disclaimer this time!-yosh!**

**Disclaimer: Ice does not own Fairy Tail(or me) so enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Of what will be**

It was a hot summer day, Erza would've had the luxury of requipping in her bathing suit and well, feel the sun tan her skin as much as her feminine side would want to. But no, she was grilled under the sun, yes-but unfortunately, not on her sexy swimming suit but her trusty Black Wing armor. Her blazing ponytail danced furiously around her, sword brimming everytime light hits its sharp edge. Whirling, turning, dodging, flying went the Mighty Titania against the combined forces of two small dark guilds. The fact that they only expected to face one dark guild, particularly the Winged Serpent's guild but ended up in an ambush with another guild hiding behind their backs, as if expecting their coming, earned curses from herself. But that's a matter meant for later. Right now, survival was the only option. She was just thankful enough the serpent's guild was merely a group of forty thugs or more, and the other helping guild had the same number, more or less. But damn it doesn't mean that wasn't dangerous. Facing two allied guilds, dark guilds was dangerous enough.

She landed on her feet staggering, and she found a pressing feeling against her back.

"I smell something fishy here, Erza." Ultear threw a big bubble and with such speed it multiplied and struck the coming mages.

"They knew we were coming." it wasn't a question, but a statement that ground to their guts, sparking confusion and curiosity. Meredy had the thing of stating exactly what was running through her elder mages' minds. The coral haired mage stepped backwards to the redhead, sending transparent swords across the enemies lucky enough to come an inch closer to her mother figure, Ultear.

"Thanks, Meredy." Ultear smiled just in a split moment before wearing a scowl, burying her elbows to an unfamiliar man's nose.

"Jellal's taking long. Maybe we should follow him already." the youngest female blurted out after gasping a handful of oxygen before delivering another wave of her magic.

Dealing with men in guns required much effort, basically dodging their almost invisible bullets, to countering an attack before they start barraging again after running out with ammos. This was something Erza and her group learned through the countless battles they fought with the guilds under the Alliance's wings. It would've been a great breakthrough for an era of magic, a big progress to their technology to aid mages. Sadly, that kind of knowledge came into the wrong hands, into the wrong side. Now the objective cleared for them: to dispose the knowledge of those weapons, thus breaking the imposing threat of coup d etat against the kingdom and the legal guilds, to the destruction of the Alliance. After going around in circles, searching and acquiring knowledge about the Alliance, they finally knew their purpose. It was better than fighting with eyes blindfolded.

Coincidentally, there was a flash of light striking five unlucky enemies,much faster than their bullets could do, and they knew whose it was.

"Oh, there he is!"

They turned their heads to the figure escaping the now crumbling headquarters of the Winged Serpent's guild.

"Mission Accomplished." the tattooed man grins, holding up a stack of yellowed papers.

"Hah. It took you that long for that?" Ultear faked a disapproving face.

"Right. You're just in time." Erza grabs the man's arms forcibly, the taller man flailed in the air above the scarlet.

"Wha-ahh!" Jellal almost shrieks, manly enough.

He landed butt first into the remaining dark mage, now knocked out cold.

Jellal turned to the culprit and gave a frown. An expression that made the entire group into snickers.

"Really, Erza? That's how you greet me, your-" the blue haired man tugs Erza's hand still gripping him just as strongly enough for the scarlet to tumble in the same fashion as he did in the ground.

"Damn it-"

* * *

"What do you think these papers hold?" "Looks like their financial statements, along their recorded activities, and a quick rundown of their possessed weapons and arms."

"there're a list of things I deduced to be what it needs to create those weapons I found there, too."

"Hmmm..hey, this is an odd sign."

"Lemme see." Ultear stretches her hands across Meredy who was holding a small piece of letter; bizarrely new-looking than the other papers they ran into. they all took a curious look from it, gathered in Meredy's seat in front of a bonfire. It was odd looking-stamp, they concluded- printed in black ink. It was the first time they ever saw it. And they've been through a lot to encounter these kind of things. So it sparked their curiosity to notice the mark, the only one out of the papers they retrieved. Placed at the end of the paper, almost unnoticeable of its size they peered to the top of the contents and saw nothing but numbers and words, names, and just a group of letters that tasted so foreign under their tongue. Was it ever written in dictionaries? Were they codes used to deceive? What do those digits hold importance?

The discovery lead them to yet another bulk of questions. But somehow, their gut feeling told them it was something they should pay attention to. But for some reason, the matter disappeared at the back of their minds when they felt among themselves the urge to sleep after a long dragging day.

They decided it that the matter was not theirs anymore to tread in, but the kingdom's problem to solve ...unless they were told to do so, which would be most likely. But that could wait till the next morning, right?

* * *

_Poor, poor boy, walks alone in darkness._

_Empty is what you've become_

_Numb is who you turned into._

_Your fate rests in a bloodied ink_

_In your hands will you see crimson_

_Of which reminds you of her._

_Poor, poor boy walks alone in darkness_

_The past will come behind your back_

_Bite you until you bleed_

_Till you bleed no more._

_But fate is such cruel,_

_For the truth will cause you pain_

_Harsher than death itself_

_Poor, poor boy walks alone in darkness_

_In silence, you tread_

_Till you drop dead_

_Alone you are will fall_

_No one will catch you_

_But the bony hands of death._

_Poor, poor boy..will you accept this end?_

Gray woke up with a start. Shock impaling his hands on the sheets, he abruptly sat up. His body tensed in way that spelled fear, and he could feel blood pounding in his ears.

"Wha-what the heck was that?!"

* * *

**A/N:...sulks**

**RainYama: aah, Ice is kind of-uhhh-**

***glares-say- one- word-and-i'll-stare***

**TYama: a-anyway, the guy just wants to say sorry because yeah-the last part was lame...really, she's sorry.. Mmm, yeah! She wants to hear from you guys, too..and uhm, she said she'd also gladly accept your own suggestions to replace the last part..she says she really had the lamest talent on poetry..haha..mmm. So yeah! I hope you guys enjoy the chap and I hope to see you guys on the next chap, too...but I guess PurpMallows is gonna be accompanying Ice next time^^Haha! I got a baseball match to catch, good luck Ice!~**

**...**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: ...**

**So, hello again ladies(say ayee!) and gentlemen(say heyaaa!) haha. I'm here once again. Sure, I'm really taking long to reach the climax, eh..and I honestly don't have any plans for the three(oh, you know who they are). I already had a plan for the ending, though. Hiiieeeeee!~ must overcome (my dearest enemy) writer's block.**

**The next events would probably be hurriedly paced. I'll try my best(est) to keep this story simpler-hopefully, more GrayZa love in the next chapters, well...**

**PurpMallows:heyaa~ it may seem that I'm a stranger in this place..hmmm~ but I'll be doing today's disclaimer, yeah?~**

**Disclaimer: Ice does not own Fairy Tail(owwh, what a name) or me, in any way~ enjoy!~**

**Warning: Grammatical errors. If you're kind enough to point those out^^please do.**

* * *

-** Chapter 8: Comeback**

The sun has already peeked through the horizon, as one lone figure witnessed them all unfold there in a certain spot. Gray heaved a sigh, adjusted himself in the creaking wood for support, and ran a hand through his raven locks. Daylight has begin to reach him from afar and he felt at ease. Alone he was, perched atop from the highest place there is in the guild's building, where a clock ticks and rings when it's time. So much for the good in the morning, he thought, when you wake up from an unnerving dream.

But then, you can't ruin the good feels in a beautiful sunrise, right? That's right, watching it rise and at the same time how it set from the same horizon he'd see in Magnolia. Why, it's always better to look something from the beginning till the end.

_The end..._

'That's a little harsh.'

_The end of the story begins now._

'Shut up! What the hell! Why am I talking to myself! And who the hell are you messing up with my head!-Urrhhh!'

"Good morning, Gray." came a cheerful voice from behind, immediately halting his actions.

"M-master!" Gray almost fell off.

"Yo! I see you're quite accustomed to coming here, no?"

"U-uh.. I usually go here to clear my mind.." he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. Makarov sat beside a spot next to the ice mage.

"Oh, something's bothering you then?" asked a worried old man.

"Nah, just a nightmare." there was silence between them. Silence to enjoy the last bits of moments of peace before they go down to face the day ahead. But Gray knew better-

"You're the one who seemed troubled, old man.." he glanced sideways, the wrinkles and sags even more visible in the sunlight.

"It may be my old man's instincts-but I feel something's coming up, boy.."

"... I need to ask you a favor." This took the ice mage aback for a second or two. Well, he's earned his title as an S-class mage, these are the things that made him giddy.

* * *

"We made it! We reached Magnolia before noon!" Coral-streaked locks jumped up and down in the big, crowdy streets. The older figure had her hands on her hips while grinning.

"We finally made it back, been a long time, no?" The scarlet stretched her hands upward, with an undoubtedly happy face. Beside her was an equally cheerful man, who smiled after heaving a tired sigh.

"I'm beat...I'm glad they gave us a break."

"Come on, lazy head! Last one's a loser!" Jellal almost kissed the ground when the armored lady tapped his back too hard. And off they go running like young teenage students in their hippie days. Like running with grayed coats didn't make them stand out and gained a few curious eyes from the town folks.

"Hurry up, you're getting older!"

"I'm not gonna lose to any of you.." the devil Titania spoke, with an all-glowing eyes. Erza,who took the competition too seriously like always, ran a full speed ahead with a blazing trail of dust and and earth.

"Looks like you're the ones losing-" she smirked like she's sure to win. She didn't take too much attention to people she ran into. There were familiar faces, people she's meet and helped a couple of times before, many people had recognize her, too with her signature hair color and greeted along the way. Erza slowed down when she felt like she needed to. To take the all-familiar scenery, the noise, but that is just a part of the things she missed. She missed her guild, her friends, her-

And for whatever in the wind that caught her attention, something-someone perhaps-? She looked back..nothing. A teenage boy waved at her, and she smiled back.

"Hey, Erza! Talk about not losing, huh?"

'Must be my imagination..' she took one last look, a distant look from the concrete but vintaged walls.. There was that certain spot, she didn't know why she was drawn to it. Then she turned back.

"Come on, Erza! I'm starving!"

_'Sorry.. It may have been good to see you again.. But not now.'_

* * *

- They finally arrive at the guild. Everyone was at first,meet wide-eyed like time stopped. But then, a certain blonde was the first to break the stinging silence..like this...

"Erzaaaaaaaaaaa! You guys are back!" The gang was meet with hugs and cheers and warm greetings like the first time. Soon enough, a party( Fairy Tail style) has started and all was in a mayhem. Erza and Jellal chose to seat at the bar counter where they're served by an overjoyed Mira, beside a giddy Natsu, an enthusiastic Lucy, a happily drunk and a smiling Wendy. The rest were laughing their selves out and probably started another brawl( Ultear and Meredy included) and somehow the four of them were having a pretty great time for a warm welcome. Wendy's now a big girl with waist-line ocean blue hair( still frustrated for some reasons; Cana's finally an S- class and now only drinks in special ocassions( like four times a week, still the same barrel count per day); Levy's grown two inches or three; Lucy's still the same (with much grown body); Macao's drinking beer while saying he's gonna retire soon and is passing the title to a certain headset-wearing blonde; and a lot taller Natsu with barely mature attitude (sigh) though he's earned another S-class and a fairly good name for him being a (in)famous mage capable of burning anything( actually everything), along with that strippe-

"Hey, does everyone seem to forget Gray?" came a bewildered question from the blonde girl.

"He should be here, right?" Wendy followed.

"I hear he's out on a mission. Oh, dear he's definitely chose the wrong time to go out an entire continent far..." Mirajane swooped one glass to the counter.

"No one can blame him, though.. We're really surprised you guys came today!"

"Oh..."

"That icehead.. Missing out all the fun!" Natsu bellows, obviously drunk.

"Hey guys, you're staying for Valentines, right?"

"Uhh, is it already near?" Erza looks up. Jellal's the same.

"Yeah! We can celebrate together with you, lovebirds!" Lucy clasped her hands with all the glitters and shimmers in her eyes. The two mages choked on their drink, now beet red. Hopefully, the two recovered but it also earned giggles from their friends.

"I don't know... We don't really know since anytime the Council will order us around again.." Erza spoke in a sad tone.

"Don't worry, Erza! We'll still have fun!"

"We can go shopping!"

"I'm going with you guys!"

"You girls can go yourselves! Hey Jellal, drink your share! We're not getting you off the hook!"

"Uh, no tha-" before the guy could reply, the Card magic user had already chugged a barrel unto him, forcibly.

"Come on, you don't wanna get beaten by your old man, do ya?~hic" Makarov holds his glass high up and grins, and when nobody's looking, worry was etched on his face, staring at an equally face of anxiety of the blue-haired man. When a hand slips through his, from the now armor-less scarlet saying,

"Forget about it, Jellal... We'll save that later.." and then squeezed his hand, Jellal smiled in reassurance, Makatov was able to lift his own heavy heart a little. 'This whole thing may be coming to us without knowing, but I'm sure our family will handle anything for our comrades'

"Come on, Erza! The day's not getting any younger!-Meredy, Ultear-san! You should come along with us, we're going to have fuuuun!" called Lucy to the riot that had now occurred in the hall( or what's left of it)

"Comingg!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: The moon shines, and sees above all**

_"-E-Erza...I- I swear I didn't do it...he just.." the man drops his own weight to the ground, now shaking. The armored woman rushed to his side and tried to hold his stare unto hers. In front of them was a soldier, from the kingdom whose group came earlier to investigate the evidences gathered by the them. The papers, the statements, the mark...all of them were taken care of the kingdom's forces to be sent for analysis along with the Magic Council. But how did a dead man end up here? Not just an ordinary soldier, but some damned high-ranked officer._

_Jellal's hands were slick with red fluid not his own. His pupils and irises had gone the smallest, almost disappearing, and cold sweat ran buckets from his forehead._

_"What happened? Tell me what happened here, answer me-Jellal!" she continued to shake him._

_"I don't -I DON'T KNOW! I saw that mark...accidentally..and then I didn't know what happened next. When I came to, the dagger-it's on my hands.. I could've-I didn't- I killed him...!?"_

_"No, I believe in you! We'll-"_

_"Jellal, Erza!-what's going on-waa-"_

_"What happened here!?"_

* * *

"It was my fault... I should've been more alert.." Jellal hung his head, hands tightened into fists."

"No. It's too early to put blame on anyone. I already have someone to look into it. Please, worry no more. Take this opportunity to rest, okay?" With that they took their leave. It's already evening. They ought to stay in inns but the master had insisted they stay up the rooms constructed in the recent renovation of the guild's building.

"Good night, guys!~yawns~"

"See you tomorrow, then."

* * *

Gray shifted his long gray coat to keep his calm. He scowled in annoyance as he leaned in the concrete wall of one of the inns located in the small town of Nevir. He had just arrived the place and he was all but glad to have come. Truth is, Nevir was all but a pleasant town with crowded streets, dirty surroundings, foul and intoxicating scent all over the place, add the people who greeted him with indifference and tool the liberty of running him over without muttering any other word than an ugly smug in the face, and even stole from him. He lost his clothes, his good amount of money, ran into troublesome delinquents, and stepped into something rather not appealing. All in one day.

Now, here he was, standing beside a choking and smelly garbage can. He dragged his hood down to keep his face, and all the while talking to a shadow hiding in the dark alley behind him.

"Ya sure ran to quite a lot trouble earlier." came a husky voice that sounded like metal clashing.

"You have no idea." He replied nonchalantly. He could almost make out the other man smirking at the shadows.

"Whatever. What have you got for me?" Gray crossed his arms.

The man moved to retrieve something out of his pocket and handed a piece of crumpled paper swiftly like a wind. "Everything ya need to survive, kid." he said.

Gray reached for it. Once kept safe, he began heading his way. "I'll be going, then." he said.

"Good luck, kid. Ya gotta need many of those." And then, in a blink of an eye, the figure vanished without by trail of presence left behind.

Gray heaved another sigh before walking mindlessly through the sleep. He looked up the sky idly, seeing the full moon bright and clear above the sky. First thing, He needed a place to stay for the night and it looks like he had no quite options with the same inns infested by rats, dotted with holes, and decorated with dirt. Next morning, he'll begin his task. A trip to hell, where if you make a wrong move, you'll be missing the next sunrise and then forever.

He thought of many things as he entered his room, placed his belongings, took a shower, and even now that he's plopped to his bed who answered a sound of wood creaking and it looks like it's barely hanging together, after reading the note from earlier. Aside from that, it was so quiet. So quiet that it wasn't helping him at ease. It felt so cold. He's been to missions alone, each mission getting dangerous each time, specially now that he's finally got the access to the second floor. He's grown into a much reliable, independent, and strong mage of a caliber. Honestly, he can't believe how he was able to do these kind of thins he never ought to imagine , not until he gained the title of an S-class. He's become a versatile mage, now not only capable of fighting, but also concealing. He didn't wonder why Master Makarov recommended to give him this mission, as he was seldom given these types of missions along with Gajeel unlike Natsu whom Macao and Makarov trusts to be at the frontline. It perfectly suits his magic, too. But sometimes, this silence is quite unhelpful.

He took one last glance outside as the moon peeked through the dusty window. And then after that, he didn't remember falling asleep.

* * *

The wind rustles throughout the forest, resounding a mile or so. Birds flocked away from the trees at the vibrations caused by human movements. One lone man ran across branches and more branches. His job's done, and he could not afford to waste time or his cover will be blown. Then, he heard movements from his east, he fastened his pace. Now there's West.

Never mind worrying about his cover to be blown, it looks like it was now.

'Shit. There's up ahead, too!' the man cursed under his breath. He stopped. It was hopeless to run away. He was now surrounded. The evening breeze continues to pass each group of twigs and leaves.

"Up for an evening walk, man?" one voice sounded through the thick shadow. The full moon didn't even help as clouds began to obstruct its path.

The man gritted in response. His hands tightened into fists as he stances in defense. His unruly long jet black hair swaying by the wind.

"You'll make up for a good hunting prey..." another voice came. A hundred? Five? What a number of smug-faced rogue mages.

'Must be from a dark guild.' he thought.

"Fancy some last words, mate?" one brisk, manlier voice added. The whole gang could almost break into snickers when they saw the lone enemy tremble inside their group circle like a new-born chick lost in the woods. Oh, boy how wrong could that be...

"Gihehehehhe!- that's one brave last word ya got. But I guess you'll never have the chance to change that when I cut your loose tongues." The iron dragonslayer smirked evilly, a dark glint shone in his steely orbs that screamed bloodlust that it almost made all the surrounding enemy piss unmanly in their pants. "Come on, ya filthy bunch of thugs! I'll show you how to hunt and choose your prey properly!" he grinned, showing his fangs.

All of them pounced at once to the iron dragonslayer. So much for the trouble of being a part time double agent, he thought. He actually gave them credit for blowing his cover sooner, although still same bunch of thugs for their attacking cliché. He summoned his iron-god sword and swung it, swatting a good number of them. He grabbed one mage's collar and threw it across another incoming group. Blood's pounding in his ears and he can't help but feel all giddy and excited. Gajeel elbowed another random man's nose before sending his iron dragonslayer's roar, wiping them out. He leaped to dodge magical knives thrown at his feet, and Gajeel was steady on air.

That's when a sharp clank rang out.

BANG. All went still. Gajeel almost lost his balance before landing on his good feet. You don't realize your attacks using metal won't work on me, do you?" he glanced at a long distance where he theorized the perpetuator of the blow hid.

"No. But I doubt you're resistant to magic, are you?"

The world was spinning. Gajeel's smirk had fell into agape. "What's happening.-" he staggered.

Before he could react, another shot rang through the air and there was another gaping hole at his right shoulder blade. Hr had dug out the lodged bullets off his body, but the effects were stinging him now. Fortunately, it also looked like the enemy had exhausted their minimal supply of those bullets. But that doesn't turn the good side to him.

"Attack!"

* * *

**Oh. Too much time skips. Sorry'bout that. I'm a little crazier right now 'coz my dearest enemy is once again messing with me head, so pray to God that I won't go far more than that or I'll be slaughtering off guild and kill the main character. Ha. April fools, guys. But who knows? The next update will be another back-to-back. **

**Thank you for sticking up this long, everyone! You have no idea how it inspires me to conquer my enemy every time I think of this. Review?**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: okay. I know, I really could understand that the recent chaps have been lacking of GrayZa, really. But...I just need these and well, don't cha worry^^ you guys will get what you want before you know it! Haha. 'Twas my fault I had focused on the action plot recently, I'M SO SORRY. And anyway, thanks for sticking up to this story THIIIIIIIIISSSSS LONG. With my lack of updates, now I'm on panic 'coz school is about to start, and at least I wanna leave a good part of the whole story before I focus myself on my studies. Don't worry, Ice is hanging on!~ I promise I'll try my best to make up for this before my 2-weeks of what's left of my vacation ends.**

**Uhm, SPECIAL THANKS TO THE TWO REVIEWERS WHO GAVE ME LOVE BY REVIEWING, I'M SO GLAD TO KNOW PEOPLE ARE STILL INTERESTED ON THIS STORY. it's been awhile, yeah? **

**Hello to, pinkkoala213 and FT Forevah(guest). I know this isn't much but I still hope you guys enjoy it. **

* * *

**Chapter 10: Another day towards the unseen future**

**_Earlier:_**

_Dusk came, and Gray had to curse himself for waking at the wrong side of the bed. It was almost time to start. He wasted no time in taking a quick shower, decided he'd fix himself a good meal along the way, pulled his pants out of nowhere and then his white jacket, before covered in his raggedy long, dusty coat to conceal his identity and magic as well._

_He found himself trudging along the path leading to the capitol of Nevir. You see, Nevir looks like a pyramid-city, the heart of located at its peak. It's a waste, really that such creative idea of architecture was built but inhabited by disinterested citizens who only care about money that made Nevir a dark, thrashed place. He could see a dark sinister-looking castle from the alley he was walking, and as he went up and closer to the capitol, he can't be anymore disgusted of the growing crowd of people: vendors and consumers of the black magic business that had been kept away from the world all this time miraculously. It bugged him._

_After hours of hiding his presence from the risk of suspicion, he finally arrived at the capitol where the castle was, slightly awed of its size. He tightened the hold of his coat and then approaches the tall, smug-looking man waiting for him at the meeting point._

_"You're la-wha?! You're not Crow-who are you?!"_

_Gray summoned his magic and the air around them dropped to several degrees, intimidating his opponent more when a blade materialized in his hand. "Nowhere.. Was that his name, then?"_

_"You're a spy! Heh. How dare the kingdom send a spy to take us down now. No. That's impossible. So I guess you're from a guild desperate enough to take revenge on us, eh?" the man was oozing out with confidence, no, arrogance. And it disgusted Gray even more._

_"What are you babbling about?"_

_"Aw.. Let me tell you this, brat. Tell your guild members to train more. Heh. Maybe someday, you'll get a chance to prove worthy of the Alliance!" he cackled, and then like the wind he was gone and then he was in front of the ice mage._

_"Hn. Not bad for a blabbering idiot, I guess." Gray bore his stare into the other's eyes, earning the slight shiver from his opponent. "W-wha.."_

_A magic circle appeared in the man's fist and he drove it straight to his face, only to be stopped by stronger, and icy cold hands. He threw the man single-handedly, and then froze his face he hadn't even made his next move._

_If there's something in his skills that'd be useful for him at missions like this, is that he learned how to use ice to imitate facial features and make them for disguise. He still needs to improve the time span, though._

_"Now, to the castle."_

* * *

'Now, I wonder what that guy meant...' Gray thought back while passing secretly along the corridors, finding as much good information he can get to finish the mission. He entered a room to his left, careful to hide much of his presence and rarely throwing down enemies in the most minimal sound along the way.

The castle was a maze, and he got lost not once,maybe twice. There were guards, mages and lots of them were almost everywhere. It was a good thing his disguise hasn't come off yet as he used the former's identity as one of the members of the alliance, showing off the tattoo imprinted on his left side of the neck. It's on a black ink, a rough drawing of a large-fanged, vertical shaped-eyes, snake. He had also claimed the other man's clothes, too.

"Oy, it's off limits here." one of the guards said. He was backed up with four more guards wearing the same tattoo on their armors.

Gray heaved a soft sigh, the one that he always does when taking another one's personality as his own, and turned to them. "I was asked to guard this room, for your idiots' information."

"And who are you.. Ah! You're Mito-san right?" one of the guards said excitedly.

Before anyone could say something, though a blast that came from one of the corridors not far from where they were, interrupted them and at once, the soldiers were on alert and panic. "wha-what's that?!"

"Someone blasted the west wing!"

"Must be a bomb! Quick! An enemy has penetrated through the castle!" And then, they were gone like chickens on the loose, that they forgot who they were talking to earlier.

"Tch." Gray scowled. But then, it was replaced by a smirk when he thought how successful his plan went. Now all he had to do is enter the room.

* * *

The guild was silent. No, this wasn't supposed to be normal, right?

"Levy? What happened? Why does everyone look sad?" With one sight of her blonde friend, Lucy, Levy finally caught her voice and answered her.

"I-it's Gajeel..Lucy, I-" Yes. Lucy knew Levy planned this day to say 'yes' to the iron dragonslayer. But the simple expression on Levy's face caused Lucy to know something was wrong. And Gajeel...

"Damnit! Who did this!" Natsu threw his fist to the wooden table. He knew that guy was supposed to be as strong as an iron, he wouldn't get hurt that easily. To think that he was this hurt must've meant the situation at hand was serious than he would usually think it was.

"Gajeel came back today from a mission seriously injured.." from the back, they heard the door from the infirmary creak and opened, revealing an exhausted Wendy and Polyusca. Everyone came crowding to them that instant.

"How is he?"

"Is Gajeel alright?"

"Please tell me he's okay!"

Wendy was too tired to speak, so Polyusca took the right to explain by showing one piece of metal bullet to the rest of the Fairy Tail members. "He's stable."

"This thing was lodged on his shoulder. His other injuries weren't that bad, but this bullet.. I sensed this bullet did the greatest damage on him." she continued.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Bisca and Alzack chimed in together. Of course, of all the mages there in Fairy Tail, they were the ones who knew guns too well. Although, they had already admitted that the ones mentioned by Erza and the others were out of their knowledge as gun magic users.

"Unlike normal bullets that you both use, I believe these kind of bullets hold a very strong and forbidden magic intended to be vanished a long time ago. This is a magic that absorbs your opponent's magic and use it against you. In this case, whoever made these bullets were intelligent enough to modify them to match the nature of weapon it is being encased. When lodged into a mage's body it will absorb its magic in a matter of seconds, rendering the body in shock of a sudden loss of magic. And then, the bullet will use every bit of magic absorbed to attack the mage's body. It could be deduced that the stronger the magic one wields, the stronger the effects of the bullets and will lead to death itself."

"Tha-that's crazy.."

"Yes. It's rather shameful to get killed by your own magic.."

"He's lucky that these bullets still aren't completely updated yet, the effects are still considerably lower. But, if this continues I'm sure..." Polyusca added.

"How did you know about this, Polyusca-san?" Erza asked. It seemed that she and the rest of her team might just learn a thing or two from Fairy Tail's medical advisor that would really be a great help for their own mission.

"Hmph. Unlike those wimpy humans, I have already done my own research. Even before you asked me to, Makarov.." she turned to the short man. "Besides, I hate to admit that this ruckus is starting to get on my nerves."

" Look, Jellal, Erza! it has the same mark we found!" The owner of the names stared wide-eyed.

Silence.

"It's all my fault.. I underestimated the enemies unseen." Makarov stared at the floor, hands tightening into fists. Somehow, his bad feelings out of all of this were rising even more.

All the while, Polyusca stared at the old man with questioning eyes. 'What are you up to now, Makarov?'

* * *

Gray didn't know how long he was inside that poorly-lit room. He was sweating beads and buckets stuck in a pile of papers and his stomach was rumbling so bad. It even took him longer on reading all of them since the only source of light he relied on was the small space between the windows: from the looks of it, it was already another day that passed by; the night fell without Gray paying attention to.

'_If I wasnt here, then I could've been enjoying the night view from that place... What if.. What if she'd come back and I wasn't there?.. Would she look for me?..'_

He laughed.

_'If she ever comes back.. I know she's happy. Jellal's a good guy. Wait-ahh! What am I thinking! This isn't the time to be distracted!'_

Face met desk.

_'I'm doing this to protect her..right? Right...'_

* * *

**I'm closer... just a little longer-and i can finally write the GrayZa part. Mouuuuuu... Btw, Review if you want to~ it's my medicine.**

**oh, by the way.. I was thinking. I got this story( GrayZa) once again. it's an AU but I don't know if you guys prefer to read it as a one-shot, o by chapters.. Hmm... It's kinda long..but I guess it'll still pass as a one-shot, well not a regular one-shot. more like some one long story. And I understand if you guys don't wanna read multi-chapters,coz updates can be a problem to readers. On the other side, multi-chapters could be fun with all the thrill.**

**hihi. so, tell me if you like to read it as a one-shot or not^^- thanks!**


	11. Author's note

**Author's note:**

*is this on? Ahem..Ahem.*Hey, guys. It's me Gray. Uhm-currently the author is rambling-hey, it's a darn TV, stop throwing random things at it- right, rambling. Passed that stage already. Well, you see, I know you're surprised that the author is putting up this note because really, that kid may be loud-mouthed in A\Ns but she really doesn't make it this long and important.-can you untie me, now? The wind is blowing the script to my face! What? It's not my fault you got in a mess! Oh, yeah? Shit.. No, not that vase! Aaaargh!-Man, she's annoying me to no end. She comes by to my house and start to talk in a different language and then I got tied up, I have no choice but to do what she's asked me 'coz she's going crazy. What the-Oi! You can't be that serious!- so, let's see..i can't read it..what kind of writing to you have? You only got two months of summer and you can't write properly now? Uh, oh.. That was a taboo.

*Damnit get to the script already!*

Okay, okay! The sooner I get over with this, the better. So, she's currently decided that she won't be writing for a while 'coz school(low voice) is coming and she swore over Mavis' grave she will graduate from high school no matter what, and she to admit it she's kinda easily distracted between choosing things that are both important. You see, she tried to do things at the same time and then she ended up losing her position in the honor roll. Now, she's sulking..- What I'm stating the obvious!- and she wants to make up for the next school year so she can have that dream machine that lets you draw just like those of animators from her dad. And really,-hey!don't hate school that much! Oh, really? -well, good luck with that. I'll pray for you to survive that.- she's rampaging because like every other teenager wants was a long summer and just be young and wild and free-but nooo, four days from now she'll go back to school, and she's so sad to know that she will have a hard time finding the luxury to keep up with this story or writing fanfictions at the moment. Also, she admits that she's been having a terrible writer's block and she apologizes for disappointing you guys reading the stuff. But not to worry, though. Ice said she'll find a way out soon-if she has time, she will finish the story on paper first and publish it- and that she'll try her best to update. Honestly, she hates to leave you guys for awhile-that's why she's venting her frustration on me, but really she's crazy to the next level if she thinks breaking the tv will get her nowhere just because it starts to babble things related to school and stuff.

Last part, she would like to thank all the guys who're still tuning into this story even with the ups and downs. Sorry that this story is taking waay too long and is not reaching up to your expectations for a GrayZa/JerZa fic. Sorry that it has been off that it takes more focus on the adventure side, not the romance side. She's sorry that it's losing more and more of that *spark* the way you read it for the first time.

Matsuky1407, Ice really wanted to say sorry for that. She may know that this is the way she wants the story to go, but she's not forgetting the fact that this fic was made to please fans and readers she can't just ignore the reactions of the reviewers. She hopes that she will find a way out soon and that she can please you guys again like she did in the first few chapters. Thank you for supporting! And don't worry if that made me her feel bad, 'coz she really needed that to wake her up from reality that probably some of the readers would want to say, too. She appreciates how much you cared about this story soo much that you're willing to take your time criticizing it! Thanks! and she's not a saint to say she didn't care about what others say even if it kinda makes her sad-BUT! she's reall y happy and challenged at the same time to be better next time! Love lots, from Ice!

AsDarknessSpreads, Ice said thanks! I'm glad to know you think of me as awesome in that chap Ice made:) she promises to do her best, even more now that life will be hectic from now on. We're both happy that you and along the others are still continuing to support this story! Love lots, from Ice!

To all of the more silent-type readers, who added this story to their favorites, to all who added Ice this story to their favorites lists, to all the guests: THANK YOU!^^-love you guys!Wait, does it sound weird when I'm the one saying this?-

Sooo, I guess that is what you call Hiatus, eh? -Ice, stop looking at me like that. And pouting won't get you anywhere! Oh, Mavis! Just stop it! Why don't you go take time to find yourself and focus to school like you promised to do.- oh, great we've reached the time limit. Oy, you forgot to do the laundry. And your ba-**Beep. Beep.**

**5/30/13**


End file.
